The Wildcats’ chance to advance into the Elite Eight for the first time in school history was ended with a close 59-55 loss last week against Illinois State. The same issue that plagued them in the Western Athletic Conference championship against CBU resurfaced in the Super 16 loss, as size in the paint once again proved to be the difference.

For the Lancers, Emma Johansson and the Cardinals’ Doneelah Washington controlled the interior, scoring 15 and 23 points respectively, exposing the smaller Wildcat lineups that were reshaped due to injuries this season.

Star junior forward from Bixby, Oklahoma, Meredith Mayes last played Jan. 8, just three games into conference play, when she was second in the nation in field goal percentage. The 6-1 freshman forward Emma Daugherty, who was injured on Feb. 7, led a junior forward from Bushland to pick up the starting role for ACU.

Head coach Julie Goodenough pointed out that losing the team’s paint presence put limitations on the team.

“We got smaller, really fast,” Goodenough said. “Against a Cal Baptist with two really good post players, against an Illinois State with two really good post players, we were quite a bit smaller, and that was a little bit detrimental.”

Even with the loss in size, the Wildcats went 13-6 after Mayes went down, including the two playoff losses, and Goodenough still thought ACU could seize on the opportunity.

“It was a pretty gut-wrenching loss,” Goodenough said. “Really felt like we had the opportunity… but that one game does not define us or take anything away from the awesome season that we had.”

Despite the loss, the Wildcats still showed a lot of positives out on the floor in Illinois. After coming out to a 15-2 lead, the Wildcats continued to fight as the Cardinals clawed their way back, with Illinois State outscoring ACU 20-10 in the fourth quarter.

ACU led by 10 with around eight minutes to go, but both teams were calling timeout after timeout as they traded buckets before an ACU missed layup with eight seconds left that would have tied the game at 57-57, forcing ACU to foul and send Washington to the line, where she made two free throws.

The final line for ACU:

Erin Woodson: 12 points, 9 rebounds
Payton Hull: 17 points, 2 steals
Emma Troxell: 12 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists
Breanna Davis: 8 points, 4 assists

Outside of the loss, a lot of historical marks were set this season for ACU. For one, ACU went 24-11 this year, the most program wins since the 2019-20 season.

The other is the homegrown cornerstone guard from Peaster, Payton Hull, who made history this season.

In the game against Illinois State, Hull surpassed 1,500 career points, as well as set the single-season scoring record in the Wildcats’ Division I era with 639 points. She also earned the WAC Player of the Year accolade.

“I thought I did pretty good [this season],” Hull said. “But I couldn’t have done it without the coaches and the team that I have… Coach Goodenough is probably more confident in me than I am myself.”

Hull pointed to the team’s adversity this season. She said that, and the final-year mindset puts confidence in the team that will show up come late October.

“A lot of people had to step out of their original role,” Hull said. “And they did really good… I think our drive to actually make it to the NCAA tournament is going to be stronger. Next year won’t be like, ‘Oh, we still have one more year.’ It’s going to be different.”

Different is something the Wildcats can be hopeful about. Following the injuries and still historic season, Coach Goodenough doubled down on optimism and said, despite the current transfer portal landscape in the NCAA, she expects the team to stay the same.

“I am super confident that they will all be back together next year,” Goodenough said. “We have a pretty mature team next year with a ton of seniors. We expect them to be really good leaders.”

With the loss of lone senior in Davis, the “big four,” including Hull, Mayes, Woodson, and Troxell, all set to return, along with two other prominent seniors, Jazmyn Stone and breakout Natalia Chavez, are going to face a new schedule this upcoming year as the WAC rebrands into the United Athletic Conference, a merger with the Atlantic Sun Conference.

The new teams will include the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Austin Peay, Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, North Alabama, West Georgia, and returners Tarleton State and the University of Texas at Arlington.

“Changing it up, having different schools to play and different places to travel,” Hull said. “I’m super excited to play new teams. Hopefully, we beat those teams and be number one.”